DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Sambucus cerulea | Blue Elderberry 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Blue elderberry's range in western North America is from southern
British Columbia and western Alberta to California, Arizona, and New
Mexico [6,9,27,48].  It extends east into western Montana [6,27], western
Colorado [23], and Trans-Pecos Texas and south into northwest Mexico
[40,60].

Distribution of varieties is as follows [9,27,40,85]:

S. cerulea var. cerulea - the Pacific Northwest from British Columbia to
                          California and east into western Montana,
                          Arizona, and New Mexico
S. cerulea var. neomexicana - New Mexico and Colorado
S. cerulea var. velutina - western Nevada and the Sierra Nevada of
                           northern California to southern California;
                           local in the Hualpai Mountains of
                           northwestern Arizona


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES24  Hemlock - Sitka spruce
   FRES25  Larch
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES27  Redwood
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper


STATES : 
     AZ  CA  CO  ID  MT  NV  NM  OR  UT  WA
     WY  AB  BC  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BICA  DINO  JODA  MEVE  MORA  NEPE
     NOCA  ORCA


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   Northern Pacific Border
   Cascade Mountains
   Southern Pacific Border
   Sierra Mountains
   Columbia Plateau
   Upper Basin and Range
   Lower Basin and Range
   Northern Rocky Mountains
   Middle Rocky Mountains
   Colorado Plateau


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K001  Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir - Douglas-dir forest
   K004  Fir - hemlock forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K006  Redwood forest
   K007  Red fir forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K010  Ponderosa shrub forest
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K013  Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
   K014  Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K019  Arizona pine forest
   K020  Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K021  Southwestern spruce - fir forest
   K022  Great Basin pine forest
   K023  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K024  Juniper steppe woodland
   K025  Alder - ash forest
   K026  Oregon oakwoods
   K028  Mosaic of K002 and K026
   K029  California mixed evergreen forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands
   K032  Transition between K031 and K037
   K034  Montane chaparral
   K035  Coastal sagebrush
   K036  Mosaic of K030 and K035
   K037  Mountain mahogany - oak scrub
   K051  Wheatgrass - bluegrass
   K059  Trans-Pecos shrub savanna


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   207  Red fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   256  California mixed subalpine
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   211  White fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   216  Blue spruce
   217  Aspen
   218  Lodgepole pine
   221  Red alder
   222  Black cottonwood - willow
   223  Sitka spruce
   224  Western hemlock
   225  Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
   226  Coastal true fir - hemlock
   227  Western redcedar - western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir - western hemlock
   232  Redwood
   233  Oregon white oak
   234  Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
   235  Cottonwood - willow
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   238  Western juniper
   239  Pinyon - juniper
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   246  California black oak
   247  Jeffrey pine
   248  Knobcone pine
   249  Canyon live oak
   250  Blue oak - Digger pine
   255  California coast live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Blue elderberry usually occurs in early seral communities or in openings
in moist forest habitats and in moist areas within drier, more open
habitats.  It is part of the riparian communities of the Central Valley
of California, and it is frequently associated with alder (Alnus spp.)
and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) communities.  Blue elderberry is
not often used as an indicator species.  In Mueggler [51] and Mueggler
and Campbell [53], either S. racemosa or S. cerulea (blue elderberry) are
indicators for the Populus tremuloides/Sambucus racemosa community type.

Published classification schemes listing blue elderberry as an indicator
species in community types or plant associations are presented below:

Ecoclass coding system for the Pacific Northwest plant associations [21]
A taxomonmy for classification of seral vegetation of selected habitat
  types in Montana [22]
Aspen community types of the Intermountain Region [51]
Aspen community types of Utah [53]

Associated Species:  Blue elderberry tends to grow as individual plants
among other woody plants [44,87].  Some common associates are
serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), rose
(Rosa spp.), gooseberries (Ribes spp.), big sagebrush (Artemisia
tridentata), bromegrass (Bromus spp.), and wheatgrass (Agropyron spp.)
[9,86].

Related categories for Species: Sambucus cerulea | Blue Elderberry